Le Tiss: Saints can emulate class of '94 (From This is Hampshire)
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Le Tiss: Saints can emulate class of '94
10:00am Friday 8th March 2013 in Hampshire Sport
Matthew Le Tissier
SAINTS will hope to evoke the spirit of 1994 when they travel to Norwich this Saturday for a crucial Premier League battle.
The club’s last top-flight win at Carrow Road came 19 years ago, as Alan Ball’s team won a heart-stopping encounter 5-4.
Ken Monkou’s header deep into injury time helped power a Matt Le Tissier-inspired Saints side not just to victory, but also towards one of many incredible great escapes they orchestrated in that era.
The situation is not so critical now, but back-to-back defeats have kept Mauricio Pochettino’s men firmly involved in this season’s relegation battle.
Three points this weekend would represent an enormous step towards safety, though.
Le Tissier is confident that today’s Saints side can overcome the disappointment of last weekend’s home defeat to rock-bottom QPR and emulate the class of ’94 with an important victory away to the Canaries.
“The QPR game was a bit of a blip, but I think they should still have enough belief from the Manchester City result to put that to one side,” said Le Tissier, who scored a hat-trick in the 5-4 thriller.
“It was one bad weekend, but let’s focus on the performance and result against City. That proved we are capable of beating the best sides in this division – and a Champions League team.”
Le Tissier added: “There are still a few more games left and we are in a better position now than we were back then (in 1994).
“We’re out of the bottom three, but, even so, we’ve got two tough home games coming up after this, against Liverpool and Chelsea, so it’s pretty important we do get something out of this game, even if it’s a draw.
“A point isn’t a bad result at all this weekend, as opposed to 1994 when it probably was.
“It would just get us that little bit further away.
“We also have the advantage of our goal difference being better than all the teams below us, which is almost like having an extra point.
“If we were to get three points, you would probably be looking at getting another two wins and a draw from the last nine games, and I’m pretty certain there’s enough talent in that squad to do that.”
